Multicolor printing device



Aug. 28, 1951 A. MURRAY MULTICOLOR PRINTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed Feb. 26, 1944 FIG.

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- ALEXANDER MURRAY INVENTOR BY 1 W ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 28, 1951 UNITED ES PATENT OFFICE 2,566,290 MULTICOLOR PRINTING DEVICE Alexander Murray; Rochest'e'irN. YL, assignor to Eastman Kodak Gbmpanyi Rochester; N: Y., a corporation 'of New Jersey- Oiikihafapplibatibn February: 26, .1944, Serial No.-

Divided and this application March 27; 1946, SErialNoI 657,524

l-rCla'im: 1 This invention relatestoapparatus useful in carrying out a method of making amultic'ol'oi' ink picture. by a single iinpre'ssionof a suitable press.

The method; the description of-which isinclud ed in this specification in" order thatthe utility of. the apparatus herein claimed: may be fully understood and appreciated is the subject of my copencling application Serial No. 523,999; filed February 26, 1944, of which this-is a division, which matured into Patent No. 2,405,754- on l ugust 13, 1946.

The method comprises the making of color component images on the edges-f a p'ack of metal plates, each component being: made on a separate pack by known processes,- then separating the. packs. and reassemblingtthem in succession, one from each pack, thus producing a series of line images. If there are three'color com ponents for the cyan, magenta-arid yellow 'colors; every third linewill be a. part" ofth'e same component image. By suitable selective. mechanism each set will be separately inked, and the three sets placed with their freshly inked edgesin a plane and at once contactedxwith theimpressiom receiving surface upon whichthere. will be imprinted a three-color imagein. the-form of fine lines, every third linebeing of the? same color.

In a preferred form ofthe. invention: the three packs are each of a certain size sottha-t' when the three packs are assembled,.one'rdimensioniof.

the resultin printing surface will be threetimes the original size. of one pack. This isinked and printed upon a rubberblanket stretched in one signed for use in other colorcomponent packs;

Fig. 4 is a magnified fragmentary se'cti'on:of the ends of the strips carrying: aphotographic'ally formed relief image;

Fig. 5 is a similar view after'etching and the removalof the resists;

Fig. 6 is-asimi1arviewoftaipaclc of stripsireassembled after sorting;

Rig. 7 is .a .top. view chan -enlarged scalepra portionof one-end of the reassembled packs, supported by rods;

Fig. S is an enlarged fragmentary section of the edges of a packwith one set of strips out of linewith the others;

Fig. 9 is an edge view of a rubber blanket and its supporting rolls;

Figs." 10 and 11 are top views of the blanket.

and the rolls showing the blanket in unstretched and stretched condition, respectively.

In Fig. l is shown a color component pack A,

consisting of a-series of strips or leaves I havingregistering lugs or ears 2, having accurately registering apertures 3 therein. A second pack is made up oileaves or strips 4, one of which is shown in Fig; 2, having accurately registering lugs or" ears 5-having registering apertures 6, andthirdpackis made up of strips or leavesl, oneof which is shown in Fig. 3, having registering lug-s or ears8 having accurately registering apcrtures 9 therein.

The three packs are identical except for the position of the lugs or ears. The leaves are made:

of any suitable metal such as copper, bresst steel, or zinc. Thestrips are madeaccurately-of the same dimensions so that when assembled in apack; their long lower edges will lie in a-plane.

In use they will beclamped together asexplained later. If desired, theface of the packthus formed maybe ground or dressed to a plane surface. It

is then preferably electroplated with a thin skin of copper, nickel, silver; or other suitable metal to give a continuous surface bridging the inter stices between the leaves.

As an example of the dimensions, the iollc-wto electroplating, and on the electroplated layer is coated a continuous sensitive layer, ordinarily a bichromated colloid, in which a relief image of the appropriate color component is fcrmedby well known'photographic methods. This would be anegative with the half-tone separations and angles as usual.

Fig. 4* shows onan exaggerated scale a section of the edges of a few strips 1 after a relief image is formed but beforeetching; The thin metal skin is designated l0, and the relief images I i,-

with spaces 12- between them. Fig: 5 shows the-- asamer stripsafter etching and the removal of 3 the relief images. It is to be understood that the pack is etched through the relief images, and the latter removed as is customary in photoengraving processes. It is to be noted that, opposite the points where there were spaces 12, there are now etched depressions I3.

The clamps are now removed from the three packs and the strips I, 4 and I, constituting the three packs, are sorted and reassembled in succession. Because of the extreme thinness of the metal skin I0, this will break with a clean line along the cracks between the strips. The edges of the reassembled strips will then appear as in Fig. 6. Every third strip is from the same pack, and the resulting face of the assembled strips comprises depressions l3 and faces [4 ofthe plated metal coating l9 lying in a plane.

It is to be understood that the assembled strips are not at this point clamped tightly together, but each set of strips is supported by rods 15 passing through the registering apertures 3, 6, and 9 of the respective sets of ears, 2, 5, and 8, as shown in Fig. 7. The strips are thus supported with their etched edges forming the lower face of the pack. Two of the sets of strips are then lifted slightly by their supporting rods, leaving the edges of the third set in a lower plane, as shown in Fig. 8. An ink roller of appropriate color is then passed over this surface, inking the exposed set. This set is then raised and one of the others lowered and inked with a second color, after which the third set is similarly inked. The three sets are then restored to the position shown in Fig. 6 and clamped tightly together with the edges lying in a common plane. The inking of the three sets would of course be done rapidly and successively and. the, edges of the assembled pack carrying broken lines of differently colored inks at once brought into printing contact with the surface to be impressed. It is obvious that an image made as above described would consist of broken lines of three different colors and, in one direction, would be three times the required dimension.

This dimensional difficulty may be avoided by making the original half-tone separation prints through an anamorphotic optical system or by other means such as mechanical or photoelectric scanning and reproduction systems that will reproduce one dimension on one-third the scale of the other. If the final image is to be by 7 inches, the color separation images will be 1% by 7 inches, so that when reproduced as above described, the reassembled triple pack of strips will be 5 by 7 inches. In this case the lamanae may be only .001 inch thick.

Another way of obtaining the same end result will now be described, reference being made to Fi s. 9, 10, and 11.

An elastic blanket l6, preferably of natural or synthetic rubber, is attached at its ends by clamps 20 to separated discs I! mounted with ball bearings l 9 on shafts l9 and together acting as rollers upon which the blanket may be wrapped. The discs carry and are separated by light leaf springs 2| which tend to force them apart. The ball bearings permit the discs both to turn and to slide easil on the shafts l9. Rods 22 pass through the discs and hold them in alignment but with suffiicent play to permit the discs to slide upon them.

When the blanket is not under tension, as shown in Fig. 10, the discs are separated. The rods 22 may be used to turn the discs as a group and to stretch the rubber blanket It as shown in ,75' 2,405,754.

4 Fig. 11; stretching in a lengthwise direction also tends to contract the blanket transversely and also forces the discs toward each other, thus shortening the length of the effective roller constituted by them. The discs are shown in dotted lines in Fig. 11, as the blanket I I is rolled around their periphery. The relative distortion of the two dimensions will differ with different blankets, but a typical effect is illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10.

An area B, 5 by 7 inches in size, is distorted into the area C, 3 by 15 inches. That is, the lengthening of the band 2.1 times results in the lessen= ing of its width to .7 of its original dimension. If a one "Way stretch fabric coated with rubber is used, the distortion will be in one dimension only.

' If a picture-image, therefore, is imprinted on the area when in its distorted form C, and the band is then restored to its normal size and shape B, an image which is similarly distorted in both dimensions and imprinted on C will appear correctly when the band is unstretched. In order to obtain an undistorted 5 by 7 image, I make three undistorted color component images on three laminated packs of the structure described, each being 3 by 5 inches, the laminations being five inches long. These three packs are sorted andreassembled into a pack 3 /2 by 15 inches; and the three sets are then separately inked in different colors and at once imprinted simultaneously on the rubber band while stretched. After the impression is made, the tension is released and the picture area assumes the 5 by 7 inch shape and size, and the dye image is at once printed by offset upon paper.

To prevent contamination of the colors by capillar absorption of ink in the interstices the sides of the strips may be wiped, or the interstices may be fed with a water-repelling oil where 0 an aqueous ink is used, or with a glycerin mixture,

for example, when an oily ink is used.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A printing device comprising a pack of thin ,metal plates in regularly recurring sequence, the

corresponding plates in each sequence constituting a set, means for moving in their own planes all of the plates in each set simultaneously between upper and lower positions whereby when all but one set are in the upper position the edges of the plates of the one set may be inked, the corresponding edges of all of the plates when in the lower position lying in a plane and constituting a printing face, the edges of the plates of the several sets carrying inks of different colors and the images of the several sets being complementary color component images of the same subject and together constituting a multi-color image of that subject.

ALEXANDER MURRAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Murray Aug. 13. 1946 

